What Is a Corollary Relief Order in a Canadian Divorce?

If you've read a Canadian divorce judgment — yours or a sample — you've seen the phrase "corollary relief" and probably skimmed past it. It's worth understanding, because the corollary relief order is the part of your divorce paperwork you'll actually use for years after the divorce itself is a memory.

What Corollary Relief Actually Means

Under the federal Divorce Act, the divorce itself is the dissolution of the marriage — one sentence ending the legal relationship. Corollary relief is everything else the court grants alongside it: the orders that are "corollary" (secondary, attached) to the divorce.

A corollary relief order typically covers:

• Parenting arrangements — decision-making responsibility and parenting time for the children
• Child support — the amount, who pays, and when, calculated under the Federal Child Support Guidelines
• Spousal support — amount, duration, and conditions
• Occasionally, related orders like restraining or non-communication provisions

One thing corollary relief does not cover in most of Canada: property division. That's handled under provincial or territorial legislation — in the Northwest Territories, the Family Law Act — usually through a separate separation agreement or a parallel property claim. Your divorce judgment can say nothing about the house and still be complete.

How It Appears in Your Divorce Documents

In an uncontested desk divorce — no court appearance, everything on paper — the Supreme Court issues a single Divorce Judgment. In the NWT this is typically the "Divorce Judgment (Without Oral Evidence)." The document has two functional parts:

1. The declaration that the marriage is dissolved, effective the 31st day after the judgment date.
2. The corollary relief provisions — parenting schedule, support amounts — which take effect as ordered, often immediately.

When you later request a Certificate of Divorce (after the 31st day), the certificate confirms only the dissolution. The corollary relief terms live in the judgment itself — which is why the judgment, not the certificate, is the document schools, banks, and government agencies ask for when they need proof of your parenting arrangement or support obligations.

Why You'll Need Certified Copies (More Than Once)

After the divorce, the corollary relief order becomes a working document. Expect to produce it for:

• Schools — to update pickup permissions, decision-making authority, and emergency contacts (see updating kids' records after divorce)
• Banks — some lenders want the support provisions when assessing a mortgage application, since support payments affect debt ratios
• CRA and benefit programs — to establish which parent claims child-related benefits
• Pension administrators — if support or property terms interact with a pension division
• Enforcement — maintenance enforcement programs enforce the support provisions of the order, and they need the exact wording

Order several certified copies from the court registry when the judgment issues. Institutions routinely keep the copy you hand them, and going back to the registry a year later means fees and waiting. A certified copy costs a few dollars; a scrambled request under deadline costs far more.

The 31-Day Rule Still Applies to the Divorce Itself

A detail that trips people up: the corollary relief provisions can take effect immediately, but the divorce — the dissolution — is not final until the 31st day after judgment, to allow the appeal window to run. Until then you are still legally married. Registries like Service Canada and Vital Statistics will not accept the judgment as proof of divorce; they want the Certificate of Divorce, which only exists after day 31. The mechanics are in the 31-day waiting period in a Canadian divorce.

If You Need to Change It Later

Corollary relief orders aren't frozen in time. Parenting arrangements and support can be varied by the court when there's a material change in circumstances — a job loss, a relocation, a child's changing needs. The variation application goes back to the same court that issued the order (or where the children now live), and until a new order issues, the old one remains fully enforceable. Never just stop following the order informally, even if both of you agree — get the variation on paper.

The Bottom Line

The divorce dissolves the marriage; the corollary relief order governs your life afterward. Treat the judgment as a permanent reference document: certified copies filed safely, key provisions summarized for schools and banks, and a clear note of what's enforceable. The Northwest Territories After-Divorce Checklist builds the judgment into the full post-divorce sequence — which copies to order, which offices need them, and which updates depend on the order being final.

See more Northwest Territories guides →